Device for automatically changing phonographic needles



A g- 2, 1932- J. IMATSUSAKI 1,869,907

NG PHONOGRAPHIC NEEDLES DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY CHANGI 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Feb. 27, 1931 Fig.1

ug- 2, 1932- .1. MATSUSAKI 1,869,907

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING PHONOGRAPHIC NEEDLES I Filed Feb. 27,1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mm l Patented Aug. 2, 1932 JIno'MATsusAKI, oronoivraorrr, KA'I'OGUN, JAPAN:

nnvrcn non AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING rrrouoeraarirrc NEEDLESApplication'filed February27, 1931, Serial No. 518, 316', and in JapanMarch 12, 1930.

My invention relates to a device for automaticallychanging phonographicneedles of a phonographic machine in which a sound box is attached toand associated with the end of a sound tube consisting of two partswhich are to be relativelyrotated to bring the sound box retired fromabove the turn-table in order to permit the change of a record thereon.

One object of my invention is to provide means for automaticallychanging phonographic needles at each time when the record on theturn-table is changed.

Another object of my invention is to provide means which is compact andmay be easily mounted on-the sound box itself.

A further object of my invention is to obtain a device specified whichis simple in construction, effective and positive in operation.

There are other objects and particularities of my invention which willbe made clear in the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein i Fig. 1 is a general plan view of oneembodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a back elevational view of the sound box shown in Fig. 1.

F 3- shows a sectional elevation taken along line III-III in Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 is a sectional View taken along line IV-IV in Fig. 3. I I

Fig. 5 is a top end view of the combined needle gripper and guider shownin Figs. 2 to 4, inclusive. V

Fig. 6 is a bottom end view of the same. Fig. 7 is an extended view ofthe two members of needle gripper.

Fig. 8 is a view showing the needle chang-' ing or renewing operation ofthe device.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of several parts of the needle reservoir. t

Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view of the body of needle reservoir.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of themechanism fortransmitting movement between the sound tube and the plunger. I

Referring to the drawings, the device shown comprises, in general, asound. tube 1 consisting of twoparts 2 and 3, and a sound box l attachedto and associated with the I part 3 of the sound tube. The outer end ofthe part 2 is pivotally connected to and supported on acasing, notshown, of a phonographic machineand communicated with a sound-horn inthe casing, while the part 3 is rotatably carried by the part 2 at theinner end, and communicates the part 2 with'the diaphragm chamber of thesound box 4.

The part 2 is, provided at the inner end with a bevel gear 5therearound, which meshes with a second bevel gear 6 mounted on a shaft7 carried by the part 3 by means of a suitable arm member 8 attached tothe inner end portionof the part3.

Within the sound box 4, an annular chamber 9 is formed between the outerwall 10, inner wall 11, side 'wall12 and the wall ofa horn member 13which connects the diaphragm chamber 14 to the inside of part 3 ofthesound tube.

A plunger 15 is disposed in the chamber 9 along a center line thereof,longitudinally movably, and guided by a member 16 fixed to the outerwall 10 and suitable perforations in the wall of the horn member 13. The

plunger 15 is providedwith a bent extension 17 having teeth 18 to form arack bar, which meshes. with a pinion 19 on a shaft 20 in the chamber 9.g V [The shaft 20 extends through the wall10 and carries at the outerend a bevel gear 21- which meshes with a second bevel gear 22 mounted ona shaft 23 rotatably supported by a suitable arm member 24 attached tothe '5 adjacent end of the part 3. The shaft 23 is enlarged at the endportion opposite to the gear 22, and provided with a screw-threadedbore. 25 formed therein. A screw member 26 cooperates with the threadedbore 25 and is provided with a head 27 having a cylindrical extensionwhich is inserted into arcorresponding hole or recess 28' of a connector29and fixed thereto by means of a screwSO.

' The connector 29 has at the opposite end a hole 31 havinga-rectangular or square crosssection into which the correspondingrectangular 'orsquare end of the shaft 7 is slidably inserted. With thescrew released,

the normal positionor spacing of the head 27 7 The pin groove '57 whichis with respect to the end of the shaft 23 may be adjusted by turningthe screw member 26 in either direction. This adjusts the time at whichthe plunger 15 starts its outward movement, as hereinafter described.

On the outer or back wall 10 of the sound box, a needle reservoir 41 isdetachably mounted. The reservoir comprises a body portion 42 providedwith a longitudinal slot 43 of a spiral shape. I I h v p body portion 42is substantially equal to the length of the phonographicneedle a, andthewidth of the slot is substantially equal to but slightly larger than thediameter" of the needle a. Theslot 43 is closed at the bottom by abottom plate 44 while at the top by a top cover45. fThe body 42 isprovided at the center of the spiral with'a circular bore 46, while the151M644 and cover 45 are respectively pro vided with a square bore 47and 48,'and a shaft member 49 passes through these bores in series. 'Theshaft member has two short sections. of a' square cross-section andalong main section therebetween of a circular crossse'ct'ion. At thesquare short sections, the sliaftmeinber receives the top cover andbottom plate, respectively. v V v "The lowerend of the shaft member 49is attached to the inner end of a spiral leaf spring 50, the outerend of,whichis attached to the wall of a cup-shaped cover 51'having a wideflange 52 suitably attached to the body 42. Thecover plate 45 has formedtherein at the inner side a radial groove 53, while the bottom. platehas formed therein a radial groove or slot 54 in one and the samevertical plane with the groove 53, and the. endsof' a pin 55 engages inthese grooves, respectively. The pin 55has a diameter substantiallyequal to thefneedle a. q After. the partsshown in Fig. 9 are as; .senblech'they areheld clamped by a screw 56 which cooperates'with a screwthreaded'hole formed in the end of theshaft member 49. 55 iscontinuously biased towards the outer end of the spiral slot 43, bythe'spring 50 through the shaft member 49 and the plates 44 and 45,urging the phonographic .needlesd stored within the slot 43 in side-by-:side relation with one another as shownin Fig. 10 towards the outletopening or feeding in alignment with the plun eris, the upper endportion of which is normallyinserted in the groove 57 to; such aposition that the upper end face fof the plunger" abuts thelower end ofthe needle a in the feeding groove 57.. s

combinedfneedle guiding and [gripping device 60 isprovided'. at theneedle, point of the sound box'4. [The device comprises two cooperatingmembers 61 and 62 forming a jaw hinged ,at the extensions 63 and 64 bymeansof a screw 65, and urged or biased. to

each other by a spring 66 which is wound The thickness ofthe around thescrew 65 and held in position thereby, the ends of the spring acting onthe outsides of two members 61 and 62, respectively.

The members 61 and 62 have symmetrical grooves 67 and 68, respectivelyformed in the inner sides. The grooves 67 cooperate to form a grippinggroove 69- and the grooves 68 cooperate to form a guiding groove whichcommunicates with the gripping roove.

The holes are so formed and co-related that the guiding hole 7 O is inalignment with the feeding groove'57 of the needle reservoir, and when anewly fed needle is pushed into the" guiding hole 7 0, it is guidedthereby along a curved path towards the upper opening up to such timewhen the tip portion extends beyond the upper opening and the bottom endis completely within the hole 70, and when such a position is reached,the pressure of the spring 66 causes the new needle to laterally slip onthe sloping faces of the grooves 67 and 68 into the gripping hole 69 andfirinlyfgripped therein for operation. It will be underst'oodthat' theold needle for merly gripped in the hole 69 was released therefrom whenthe newly fed needle was pushed into the hole70 causing the member 61and 62 to be separated from each other by wedge action of the new needleagainst the pressure of spring 66, as shown in Fig. 8.

The released needle a drops into the pa sage 80 formed within theannular chamber 9 bya curved rib 81'inte'gial with the wall 10. At thelower end of the passage 80, the wall '10 is providedwith a discharginghole 82 therethrough. The hole 82 registers with a corresponding hole 83formed in the inner wall 84 of a discharge box 85.

The box 85 comprises a back or outer wall 87, the inner wall84 and twoside walls 88, to form a U-shoped circular chamber 86 which straddlestheend portion of the part 3 of the sound tube and detachably supportedare directed inward or opposite to the hole 83, and the needles arepermittedto pass theretlirough from the hole 83, but prevented from backflow towards the hole 83, thusassuring the holes 82 and 83 to be clearand als 'reventi'n noises caused b to and r: Y

fro movement of the needles within the discharge box. The outer wall 87may be made iof 'celluloid" or other transparent material for a readyinspection.

his a) be understood that thecombined needle guider and gripper 60 isconnected at its extensions 63 and 64 with the diaphragm 100 through aconnecting member 101, and held in position at the needle point bysuitable means in a hollow arm 102.

In operation, when a record on the turntable, not shown, of thephonographic' machine including my device, has been performed and thepart 3 of the sound tube is turned from the operating position shown bydotted lines in Fig. 1 towards the retired position shown by solid linesin Fig. 1, the bevel gear 6 is caused to revolve by cooperation with thegear 5. This rotation of the gear 6 causes the revolution of the screw26, and the latter enters into the threaded hole 25 until the head 27engages the end of shaft 23. The parts are so proportioned that when thepart 3 is rotated to such a position that the head 27 engages the end ofshaft 23, the needle gripper 60 reaches to a position in which the outerend thereof is directed upwards, and consequently even if the grippedneedle is released, it does not drop outwards but drops into the passage80, as hereinbefore described.

After the above-mentioned position is reached, the rotation of shaft 7is transmitted to the shaft 23 and consequently to the shaft 20 andpinion 19, and the plunger 15 is moved outwards to enter into thefeeding groove 57 pushing the new needle therein into the guide hole 70,and when the two members 61 and 62 are separated or open sufficiently bythis insertion of th-e,new needle, the old needle in the gripping hole69 is released and drops into the discharge box through the passage 80.The new needle is further pushed into the hole 70, and then shifted intothe gripping hole 69, when the spring 66.

pushes the members 61 and 62 to each other and causes firm gripping ofthe new needle.

Any longitudinal shifting, which would otherwise be caused by axialpressures there on during the reproducing operation, may be preventedbya small inner projection 111 on the member 62, which engages the lowerend of the gripped needle. The projection is associated with a hairspring 112 or other light spring means which pushes the needle end todisengage from the projection 111 for allow-.

ing the dropping of the released needle. When the needle is gripped, thehair spring lies between the needle end and the side wall of the member62.

In the above manner, the needle is automatically changed within the timewhen the part 3 assumes the retired position. After a record is changed,the part 3 is returned to the operating position. During this operation,the shaft 7 is turned in the opposite direction, and the screw 26retires from the bore 25. Thus it is obvious that no motion istransmitted to the shaft 20. I

It is, however, necessary to have the plunger '15 returned tot-he normalpositionshown. 'For this purpose, a spiral spring 115 is disposed in theannular chamber 9. The

outer end oft-he spring 115 is fixed to the wall 10,, while the innerend thereof is attached to the-shaft of a gear wheel 116'meshing withThis motion causesthe opposite rotation of the shaft 23, and therelative positions of the screw head 27 and the end'of the shaft 23 isrecovered to normal. v

When the plunger has retired from the feeding groove 57, the pin-55pushes the needles outwards, and a new needle is fed into the groove 57.During this movement, the 7 upper and lower plates 15 and 44 revolve inunison with the needles, and thereis no opportunity for the needle-tipsdamaged by re5la-tive movement between it and the plate 4 V The plate 45may be made of glass or other transparent material for easy inspectionof the needle contents in the reservoir. For charging the emptyreservoir with needles,

the reservoir is removed from the sound box,

and needles are conveniently inserted one after another-through theopening 57.

It will be understood that after a needle is gripped in the gripper 60,it is entirely independent from the reservoir, and the latter does neverinterfere with the reproducing operation of the needle point.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for automatically changing phonographic needles of aphonographic machine, comprising a sound box, asound tube consisting oftwo parts one revoluble with reference to the other and to which thesound box is attached, a needle reservoir carried by said sound box andhaving a feeding groove formed therein for receiving a single needlefrom the reservoir, a plunger longitudinally movable in said sound box,means actuated by the relative rotary movement of said twoparts of thesound tube'to move said plunger to cause the latter to eject a needlefrom the reservoir and means associated with the sound box for grippingsaid needle.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in

which. the means for gripping the needle 1 named groove todirect theneedle from said first named groove into the second named groove andaspring active to close saidjavvs,

:3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the means for gripping theneedle comprises a'pai-r of pivoted jaws movable toward and frorneachother andhaving 7a grooveoi-n their opposing-sides to receive aneedlefrom the plunger and a second groove for the final receptionofsaid needle and cam surfaces at the outer end ofthe first named grooveto direct the needle-from said first named jgroove into the second namedgroove and a spring active to close saidjaws and asecond spring to causedisengagement of the needlefrom the jaws. V

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim I, including a discharge box carried bythe'sound box and arranged to receive needles released from the grippingmeans.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including a discharge box carried bythe sound box and arranged to receive needles released from the grippingmeans, said discharge box having hairs on its inner side arranged toprevent retrograde movement of the needles therein.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the needlereservoircomprises a body having a slot therein corresponding in Width and depthwith the diameter and length of the needles and means resiliently urgingthe needles in said vgroove toward the feeding groove.

7 Apparatus .as claimed in claim 1, in which-the means for actuating theplunger comprises agear fixed to one tube member, a gear inthe soundboX, a rack bar on the plunger engagingthe last named gear, anintermediate shaft and gears connecting said intermediate shaft to thefirst and-second named gears.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim .1,in which the means for actuatingtheplunger comprises a gear fixed to one tube member, a gear in the soundbox, a rack bar on the plunger engaging the'last named gear, anintermediate shaft and gears connecting said intermediate shaft to thefirst and second named gears, said intermediate shaft having means tovary the length thereof for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

J IRO 'MATS USAKI.

